Philosophy in Literature

A Strategic Approach of the Debate on Philosophy and Literature

Abstract

Following the cultural, institutional, and theoretical changes of the late twentieth century, the contemporary debate on the relationship between philosophy and literature has taken on different forms and features. New approaches and ways of defining the interactions between the two fields have indeed arisen in recent decades, mirroring the complexity of the previous discussions on post-modernism, deconstructionism, literary theory, aesthetics, etc., and as a response to the fragmentation engendered by these positions. Although a certain fragmentation is still present today, – translating in a multitude of methodologies and theories – some attempts to merge different approaches have started informing more recent studies on the subject. In this introduction, we try to depict what we could define the ‘state-of-the-art’ of contemporary studies on philosophy and literature, by analysing three main approaches: 'philosophy of literature', 'philosophy and literature', and 'philosophy in literature'.